French artist Jacques Puiseux spins us round with his pulp influenced vinyl art.

Pulp Intl. friend Jacques Puiseux staged a gallery show earlier this autumn and e-mailed over a few of his pulp influenced pieces. The exhibition was in Aup, a small town in the French Provence region, and Jacques' trompe l’œil pin-ups mimicking vinyl records managed to draw the attention of local feminists, female and male, who staged a protest concerning objectification of the female body. Apparently, they compared his work to the famed Pirelli calendars and said Jacques was almost as bad as Donald Trump.

Pulp Intl. would doubtless likewise be labeled sexist by these particular protesters, but of course a pulp history website could hardly fail to be. We would simply suggest that appreciation for beauty, whether male or female, is not inherently exploitative. While many feminists are actually quite vocal in their appreciation of beauty and sex (personified by the new wave of woman centered porn websites), a subset seem to believe that any male expression of appreciation for female beauty is a form of violence.

As we've mentioned before, since 99.9% of humans came into being through an act of sex, and sex drives our existence, biologically speaking, it follows that it's unreasonable to expect it not to be on people's minds much of the time. We're all wired that way. And since it is on people's minds, those thoughts and desires will be expressed. We agree there's a best and worst way to do it, and that a refusal should be taken at face value, and that safety is paramount, but we disagree that any expression of sexual interest by an unknown male toward a unknown female is wrong.

The feminist cause is right and moral, but we don't imagine the coming world as one in which women are never looked at by unknown men as sexual beings, or approached by unknown men at bars or parties, or complimented on their beauty by unknown men. We imagine a world in which those things happen and it goes only as far as a woman's consent permits. That might be no farther than a few exchanged words, but conversely it might go all the way to someone's bed for a lovely night. Doesn't that sound like a fun world?

Jacques, we think, would agree. He's a guy who thinks women are beautiful and that interest comes out in his art, as it has for countless other artists and always will. He also likes pulp, et voilà—what you get is what he's done above and below. We really like these, and they fit nicely into our conception of modern pulp. You can see a few more Puiseux pulp stylings at this link, and feel free to check out more of his record-like creations at the tumblr page Vinyles Passion.

Guys, when I saw this cover I remembered your collection of pulps with women who’d died in bed. This is a worthy addition, I think. Her eyes aren’t open but the pose is exactly the same. Harry Schaare did the art. Amazing stuff on the site this week, by the way. Have no idea how you do it.

Submitted byPeter B.

Thanks, Peter. This is twice now you’ve added to one of our collections. You totally saved us from having to come up with a book post today, and we’re going to use the extra time wisely by getting into a cold white wine. Keep visiting. More good stuff to come.

This is the first time a reader of the site has sent us a celebrity photo, but that’s fine, because what a nice image it is. Anonymous Italian uncovered this shot of Gina Lollobrigida (and dozens of other pulp-related images) and zapped it over to us a few days ago. We think it’s a colorized version of a black and white shot and it’s probably from 1955, right around the beginning of her box office dominance in international cinema. Thanks AI.

We got an email from our friend Dan last night. A man of few words, he wrote simply, “You’re the only person who might find these as amazing as I do,” and supplied a link to the above. What is it? A Chinese propaganda poster from the 1950s. There are four more below, including our favorite: "Happy Pigs Make Great Bacon" (our unofficial title). You can see other posters here along with some translations of the text, and you can see another large collection here. And as long as we’re pointing places, we shared a collection of American propaganda posters two years ago that you can see here, and an international collection you can see here.

Above, the cover and several scans from Australia’s Adam magazine sent to us by former Adam writer Mike Rader. We’ve talked about him before, starting here. This is for sure one of our favorite covers from this great publication. As of now, we have nine more issues in hand from which you’ll see hundreds of pages as we continue into this year. See our many past shares by clicking keyword “Adam Magazine” below.

French painter Jacques Puiseux returns with another batch of pulp influenced contemporary art.

Last year we shared some unusual pulp influenced crate paintings from a French artist named Jacques Puiseux, and this morning we received more scans of his Marxist themed pieces via email. Last time we shared Puiseux’s work, we mentioned that we avoid posting modern art, and that’s true, but we didn’t want to leave you with the impression that we find it inferior to vintage art (if that were true we wouldn't bother to have a "Modern Pulp" category on the website). What we find inferior is modern promotional art—e.g., book covers, movie posters and the like. And obviously we find modern movies inferior, but then who doesn’t? However modern fine art is something we very much like, and more to the point, we like the relationship it has to the viewer. We aren’t art majors or anything, so bear with us while we try to explain ourselves.

When it comes to classic art all the hard work is already done for you by the time you see it. You can go see Picasso’s blue portraits or Monet’s lilies or any run-of-the-mill Diego Rivera and know before you see it that you’re about to experience great art. But with contemporary art the viewer plays a role in deciding its ultimate worth. Certainly gallerists and museum curators have plenty of say, but the public is extremely important, and its influence can cut both ways. Sometimes, the public is wrong, as in the case of artists that never sold anything while alive, but whose flames were kept burning by critics and experts, eventually leading to a reevaluation of the work. Conversely, sometimes art is critically dismissed, but sustained public support brings about a reevaluation. That’s almost a description of the entire field of pulp art.

So, while we glorify vintage art on this website, and in the case of promotional art we don’t think there’s any possible doubt that 99% of today’s efforts are just lame (maybe they should try letting actual artists do the work), we do like contemporary art, which means that when Jacques Puiseux sends us something that exhibits such a strong pulp influence we feel like we might as well throw it out there for you to have a gander at. It’s different from looking at a famous artist’s work—in this case, you actually have a say. And that’s the beauty of contemporary art. So at top is a piece featuring Leon Trotsky called “Embrouille à Tijuana,” just below is our favorite, “Fidèle-au-poste,” and under that are four more interesting efforts, including the last—“Tsar bomba.” For some context on that one, go here. Enjoy.

French artist Jacques Puiseux shares a few of his pulp influenced crate paintings.

We don’t usually feature contemporary art on Pulp Intl., but when French painter Jacques Puiseux pointed out to us that there were some pulp elements in his work, we thought he was right. He described them as Marxist pulp, which is interesting, however we did not discuss his meaning or intent beyond that short description, which means you’ll have to interpret them however you want. The one above is called “La Veuve Mao,” which translates as “Mao’s Widow,” and the two below are “Lady Gargarine” and “Playmate Stalingrad.” All were painted on pieces of wooden crates, and there are more at the artist’s Tumblr page here.

Hey Pulp guys. I thought you might want to add this to the collection of swamp and bayou babes you posted last month. She isn't actually ouside in a swamp, but inside the shack is where all the action is at anyway, right?

Submitted byPeter B.

Thanks a million Peter. Great cover. The art, by the way, is by Tony Kokinos circa 1960. Everyone can see the post that inspired Peter here.

All citizens possess unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of tabloid depravity.

Earlier this year, the website Darwination sent us two copies of the American tabloid It’s Happening. We posted the first in May, and today we have the second issue. As we pointed out before, the publication was dreamt up by Reuben Sturman, a Cleveland-born son of Russian immigrants who realized that the lack of a cheapie tabloid aimed at black readers represented a large—and potentially profitable—hole in the market. True, there had been the magazine Hep during the 1950s, but that had been a glossy tabloid. And true, Sturman had already delved into African-American erotica with his magazine Tan N’ Terrific, but that had been a photo digest. It’s Happening—provocative, humorous, but mostly plain ludicrous—was what Sturman came up with. See below, and see here.

The RMS Queen Mary, three-and-a-half years in the making, launches from Clydebank, Scotland. The steamship enters passenger service in May 1936 and sails the North Atlantic Ocean until 1967. Today she is a museum and tourist attraction anchored in Long Beach, U.S.A.

1983—Nuclear Holocaust Averted

Soviet military officer Stanislav Petrov, whose job involves detection of enemy missiles, is warned by Soviet computers that the United States has launched a nuclear missile at Russia. Petrov deviates from procedure, and, instead of informing superiors, decides the detection is a glitch. When the computer warns of four more inbound missiles he decides, under much greater pressure this time, that the detections are also false. Soviet doctrine at the time dictates an immediate and full retaliatory strike, so Petrov's decision to leave his superiors out of the loop very possibly prevents humanity's obliteration. Petrov's actions remain a secret until 1988, but ultimately he is honored at the United Nations.

2002—Mystery Space Object Crashes in Russia

In an occurrence known as the Vitim Event, an object crashes to the Earth in Siberia and explodes with a force estimated at 4 to 5 kilotons by Russian scientists. An expedition to the site finds the landscape leveled and the soil contaminated by high levels of radioactivity. It is thought that the object was a comet nucleus with a diameter of 50 to 100 meters.

1992—Sci Fi Channel Launches

In the U.S., the cable network USA debuts the Sci Fi Channel, specializing in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and paranormal programming. After a slow start, it built its audience and is now a top ten ranked network for male viewers aged 18–54, and women aged 25–54.

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